A study done in 2018 ranked the United States by drug use (Kiernan, 2018). Indiana was ranked 7th in the lineup for having the biggest drug problem (Kiernan, 2018). Indianapolis has many addiction centers to address this issue, including the Dove Recovery House for Women. The Dove House is an inpatient facility in the heart of Indianapolis that provides housing, food, skilled treatment, and different programs to help improve the lives of women who are addicted to substances (Dove Recovery House for Women, n.d.). Prior to the start of the doctoral capstone experience (DCE) the student met with the executive director who expressed deficits in the education of child development and motherhood in the women at the facility. There are many research articles that suggest conflict in the role of motherhood when the mother is also in active addiction (Hersteiner, 2004; Pajulo et al., 2006; Slade, 2002; Suchman et at., 2004). To address these issues, the purpose of this DCE project was to develop a program that educates and encourages the mothers of Dove House about the role of motherhood and to allow individual exploration of what motherhood means for them and their children. The occupational therapy student (OTS) developed an occupation based and client centered six-week program addressing motherhood and child development. This paper describes the needs of this population, the screening process, implementation of the group and continuous quality improvement, the discontinuation process, the outcomes, and overall learning for the DCE. Based on data taken from pre and post surveys the majority of the women found the program to be effective, educational, and relevant.

Creator

• Gaerke, Kyra-Jo

Contributors

• McGann, Taylor

Publisher

• University of Indianapolis

Language

• en

Identifier

• Gaerke.K.OTD.2019.pdf

Keyword

• Occupational Therapy

Date created

• 2019-05

Resource type

• Dissertation

Source

• S25

Rights statement

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/